--- title: See an Astronaut's Last Sunrise After a Year In Space description: After spending 340 days aboard the International Space Station, Scott Kelly is returning to Earth canonical: https://time.com/4243337/astronaut-scott-kelly-last-sunrise-year-in-space/ author: TIME Photo article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-01T18:48:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:00:19.852Z article:section: Science og:title: See an Astronaut's Last Orbital Sunrise After a Year In Space og:description: He's returning to Earth after 340 days in space og:url: https://time.com/4243337/astronaut-scott-kelly-last-sunrise-year-in-space/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2ef224c724d24988/698868a78e0601d19e462e39/scott-kelly-photograph-iss-7th-month8.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1023 og:image:height: 681 og:image:alt: Astronaut Scott Kelly International Space Station photos Month 7 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See an Astronaut's Last Orbital Sunrise After a Year In Space twitter:description: He's returning to Earth after 340 days in space twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2ef224c724d24988/698868a78e0601d19e462e39/scott-kelly-photograph-iss-7th-month8.jpg?branch=production ---  # See an Astronaut's Last Orbital Sunrise After a Year in Space by [TIME Photo](/author/time-photo/) ## TIME Photo Mar 1, 2016 6:48 PM CUT  Scott Kelly photographs his last sunrise from the International Space Station before returning to Earth after spending a year in space, on March 1, 2016. Scott Kelly photographs his last sunrise from the International Space Station before returning to Earth after spending a year in space, on March 1, 2016.Photos: Scott Kelly—NASA; GIF by Mia Tramz for TIME by [TIME Photo](/author/time-photo/) ## TIME Photo Mar 1, 2016 6:48 PM CUT It’s a new day for American astronaut Scott Kelly. After spending 340 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS), Kelly is returning to Earth, and is celebrating with one last photograph of a sunrise – one of the 5,000 Kelly’s witnessed while in orbit. With the ISS orbiting the Earth every 90 minutes, Kelly was privileged to witness the sun rise and set 32 times a day. “Rise and shine,” he said in one last [tweet](https://twitter.com/StationCDRKelly/status/704680442826350592 "undefined") sent from the station Tuesday morning. “My last sunrise from space then I gotta go!” Kelly, alongside Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Sergei Volkov, are set to come back to Earth Tuesday, in a seven-hour flight aboard a Soyuz spacecraft. Along the way, they will experience a harrowing, high-speed ride that Kelly has [compared](http://time.com/4240847/scott-kelly-astronaut-space-return-earth-watch-live-stream-online/ "undefined") to “going over Niagara Falls in a barrel—that’s on fire.” ### The Best Photographs From Scott Kelly’s Year In Space  "#Jimena in the Pacific is a massive storm. Makes the moon look puny. #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on Aug. 30, 2015. Scott Kelly—NASA  "Day 135\. #MilkyWay. You're old, dusty, gassy and warped. But beautiful. Good night from @space\_station! #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on Aug. 9, 2015. Scott Kelly—NASA  "I found these interesting waters on the US East Coast. #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on April 26, 2015. Scott Kelly—NASA  "More otherworldly #ColorsOfEarth http://tmblr.co/ZmuJBi21\_7twJ #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on Feb. 18, 2016. Scott Kelly—NASA  "#Bahamas #EarthArt Watercolors! #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on Jan. 19, 2016. Scott Kelly—NASA  "#MondayMotivation There's something beautiful over every mountain. #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on Aug. 3, 2015. Scott Kelly—NASA  "#Halloween #EarthArt Ghostly and dark but beautiful too. #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on Oct. 31, 2015. Scott Kelly—NASA  "Saw some big rip currents in #mozambique today. These can be very dangerous. Be careful. #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on Nov. 19, 2015. Scott Kelly—NASA  "Cool frozen lake in #Himalayas! #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on Jan. 9, 2016. Scott Kelly—NASA  "#EarthArt Everyone likes cloud nine. What's wrong with the others? They're all amazing from here. #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on Aug. 7, 2015. Scott Kelly—NASA  "Will be missing these sands too, but looking forward to sandy beaches up close. #EarthArt #Africa #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on Feb. 22, 2016. Scott Kelly—NASA  "#EarthArt Looks like cubism over #USA #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on Nov. 18, 2015. Scott Kelly—NASA  "#ColorsofEarth Snow white. #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on Feb. 16, 2016. Scott Kelly—NASA  "#EarthArt in one pass over the #Australian continent. Picture 2 of 17\. #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on Oct. 12, 2015. Scott Kelly—NASA  "#GoodMorning #Aurora! Good to see you again. #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on July 13, 2015. Scott Kelly—NASA  "Nursed the #SpaceFlowers all the way to today and now all that remains are memories. Happy #Valentines Day!"—via Twitter on Feb. 14, 2016. Scott Kelly—NASA  "#EarthArt #SouthAmerica #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on Nov. 22, 2015. Scott Kelly—NASA  "#EarthArt Grainy, veiny but mainly amazing. #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on Aug. 17, 2015. Scott Kelly—NASA  "Color palette of the #Spanish coast is an appealing morning view. #GoodMorning from @Space\_Station! #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on Sep. 5, 2015. Scott Kelly—NASA  "#Dubai, #GoodEvening from @Space\_Station! You're brilliant as always. #UAE #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on Nov. 28, 2015. Scott Kelly—NASA  "#Athens, #Greece, #GoodMorning from @Space\_Station. Wishing you the best. #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on July. 12, 2015. Scott Kelly—NASA  "#EarthArt Our magnificent modern Earth. #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on Sep. 6, 2015. Scott Kelly—NASA  "#ColorsofEarth Red and purple Terra Australis. #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on Feb. 16, 2016. Scott Kelly—NASA  "#Ice #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on Feb. 28, 2016. Scott Kelly—NASA  "Day 282\. Soyuz silhouette and #sunset colors of our magnificent #Earth. #GoodNight from @space\_station! #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on Jan. 3, 2016. Scott Kelly—NASA  "Day 302\. #Blizzard2016 gave us an impressive view below. Stay warm! #GoodNight from @space\_station! #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on Jan. 23, 2016. Scott Kelly—NASA  "Take a leap and explore new possibilities! #GoodMorning & Happy #LeapDay from @space\_station! #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on Feb. 29, 2016. Scott Kelly—NASA  "Stars and stripes from @Space\_Station. Happy #NationalFlagDay! #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on Jun. 14, 2015. Scott Kelly—NASA  "#SpaceWalkSelfie Back on the grid! Great first spacewalk yesterday. Now on to the next one next week. #YearInSpace"—via Twitter on Oct. 29, 2015. Scott Kelly—NASA TIME will be [live-streaming](http://time.com/4240847/scott-kelly-astronaut-space-return-earth-watch-live-stream-online/ "undefined") the entire reentry process here, beginning at 4:15 p.m E.T. TIME has been following the year-long mission of cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko and American astronaut Scott Kelly, in a video series that can be viewed [here](http://time.com/space-nasa-scott-kelly-mission/ "undefined"). A YEAR IN SPACE, a documentary film by TIME and PBS, premieres Wednesday, March 2 at 8 p.m. E.T. on PBS. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4243337/astronaut-scott-kelly-last-sunrise-year-in-space/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4243337/astronaut-scott-kelly-last-sunrise-year-in-space/"},"headline":"See an Astronaut's Last Orbital Sunrise After a Year in Space","datePublished":"2016-03-01T18:48:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:00:19.852Z","description":"He's returning to Earth after 340 days in space","url":"https://time.com/4243337/astronaut-scott-kelly-last-sunrise-year-in-space/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2ef224c724d24988/698868a78e0601d19e462e39/scott-kelly-photograph-iss-7th-month8.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Photo","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-photo/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2ef224c724d24988/698868a78e0601d19e462e39/scott-kelly-photograph-iss-7th-month8.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Astronaut Scott Kelly International Space Station photos Month 7","caption":"Astronaut Scott Kelly International Space Station photos","creditText":"Photos: Scott Kelly—NASA; GIF by Mia Tramz for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4243337/astronaut-scott-kelly-last-sunrise-year-in-space/","name":"See an Astronaut's Last Orbital Sunrise After a Year in Space"}}]}] ```